with known FTP, how do i apply it to climbing drills?

tmctguer

I am trying to apply my recently tested FTP to hill climbing drills. i know my FTP (266 watts), so how can i determine the "climbing" wattage i should be using during hillclimbing interval workouts?

I read in a Carmichael book that climbing power is approx. 10% greater than steady state power. And i think Carmichael's steady state is equal to Allen/Coogan's L4.

so on a my nearby hillclimb (1.5 miles, 8% grade, 12 minutes total climb), should i be targeting a wattage of 260 watts (266 FTP* 90% L4* 10% climbing increase)?

my goal is to devise a hill climbing interval workout that will help me "adapt" to climbing the same way 2x20's @ 90% FTP will improve my flat land cycling.

any feedback would be much appreciated.

daveryanwyoming

The goal is the same and the methods are the same. Ride your hills at either the best pace you can sustain or back that off for an SST based approach so you can do more total repeats of the hill before you get too tired.

Nothing really changes in terms of how you approach hill workouts. It's time in level that will help you adapt and improve sustainable power. If the hill takes less than 20 minutes you should be able to hit it harder than your flat intervals, but you might not want to so that you can do more repeats. In the end that's often a better approach to fitness gains and it's a lot easier mentally.

We have a local climb that takes about 12 minutes. I usually do repeats up that climb at 90-95% of FTP. Even then 4 repeats is mentally tough and 5 is the most I've done in one session. If I hit it at 100-105% which is conceivable for a hill that short I doubt I'd have the motivation for 3 efforts. You don't need to hit or exceed FTP to encourage fitness adaptations and raise your FTP. A "push up" approach to training can give you more time in level and better gains without killing yourself mentally on every training session.

SST really does work - for both flat rides and for hills.

Good luck,
Dave

tmctguer

thanks for your quick reply.

I am debating doing 2x20's L4 workout on the trainer, or doing hillclimb repeats. But I wanted to go out tomorrow with some good advice and you've provided what i need !

now i just have to drag my *ss up that hill 3 or 4 times..........